What: National Judge visit on site with Canberra Indian Myna Action Group representatives and VIP’sWhen: Thursday 22 August 2013Media call time: 12.15-12.30pmLocation: Australian National Botanic Gardens café

Canberra Indian Myna Action Group representatives are eagerly anticipating the arrival of the Keep Australia Beautiful National Sustainable Cities judge, Cameron Little, on Thursday 22 August as it vies to become the 2013 winner of the Australian Sustainable Cities Awards.

As part of his judging tour, Cameron Little will visit a number of the key environmental projects and initiatives in Canberra that earned the city the Capital Territory winner’s title for 2013.

Mr Little will evaluate these initiatives against the national awards criteria which encompasses environmental innovation and protection, resource recovery and waste management, water conservation and energy innovation, community action and partnerships, litter prevention, the protection of heritage and culture and a young legends category.

According to Mr Little, “The Indian Myna Group efforts are outstanding, and each of our finalists this year provide exceptional examples of how community groups and cities around the nation are implementing practical projects that help local communities achieve an efficient and sustainable future.”

“There are so many reasons why the Indian Myna Action Group have been chosen as the ACT winner of the Keep Australia Beautiful Sustainable Cities program and therefore they will be very competitive when the national judging takes place. I can’t wait to visit and see all these achievements first hand,” said Mr Little.

Other finalists already announced include Launceston in Tasmania, City of Moreland in Victoria, and City of Canada Bay in New South Wales. Other finalists around Australia are yet to be announced.

“Each finalist has demonstrated significant outcomes in a range of sustainability projects and activities and the National program allows each of them to learn even more from leading projects in other States.” Peter McLean, National Executive Officer for Keep Australia Beautiful said.

“The existing Australian Sustainable Cities winner is The City of Cockburn in WA and this title will be passed onto the new 2013 winner at the awards event to be held in November.” Mr Mclean said.

The Keep Australia Beautiful Australian Sustainable Cities Awards are sponsored by the Australian Food and Grocery Council’s Packaging Stewardship Forum.

Keep Australia Beautiful seeks to lead, challenge and inspire all Australians to strive for a sustainable and litter free environment. It does this through research, communications programs and awards programs.

Its national awards are known as the Australian Sustainable Communities Awards which consist of the Tidy Towns, Sustainable Cities, and Clean Beaches Awards. Each awards program commences with state and territory awards and culminates in a national Grand Final event.

The Sustainable Cities Awards are open to metropolitan communities. Our major cities are home to 77% of the Australian population, and have absorbed 80% of the population growth over the last 40 years. They are heavily exposed to the impacts of climate change. While our cities are among the most liveable in the world, they lag behind on some aspects of sustainability when it comes to energy consumption, car dependence and equity, with a stark and growing divide between the opportunities available to residents of the inner suburbs and those available to residents in outer urban areas.

About Keep Australia Beautiful

Keep Australia Beautiful is the national peak body on litter prevention. With over four decades of experience in engaging Australians to care for their local environments, (not to be confused with the organisation Clean Up Australia Day) KAB Programs include Sustainable Cities, Tidy Towns, Clean Beaches, National Litter Index, The LITTLE Committee, National Bin Network and Keep Australia Beautiful Week in August.

The KAB National website is kab.org.au where all information on the organisation can be accessed including the National Litter Index which is Australia’s only independent nation n-wide litter research.

About the judge – Cameron Little

Cameron Little has two decades of experience within the environment, sustainability and corporate social responsibility sectors and has been providing pioneering specialist sustainability support for the Australian events industry for the last ten years. In addition to a BSc in Environmental Biology he has trained in Environmental Auditing, Occupational Health and Safety, Workplace Training and Assessment, Sustainability Assessments and Permaculture.

Cameron’s interest is in the design and application of sustainability systems for environmental, social and economic benefits across a range of business, community sector, education and governmental

organisations. He takes techniques and lessons learnt from each of these areas to develop and embed effective policies, procedures and practices for organisations to achieve their sustainability objectives.

Cameron lectures and trains in Environmental Auditing, Environmental Management Systems, Sustainable Events, Permaculture, sustainable buildings and sustainable living. Cameron developed and delivers a Sustainable Event Management course for Australian Centre for Event Management and is one of the main trainers delivering training in Sustainable Events and ISO 20121 in Australia.

Within the Events Industry Cameron is the Lead Sustainability Judge for the Australian Event Awards, and also for the Exhibition and Event Association of Australasia. For a number of years Cameron was the environment industry judge for the National Local Government Awards in the Local Climate Change Action Category and also as a judge for the Keep Australia Beautiful Awards.

The Australian Sustainable Cities Awards are sponsored by

The Australian Food and Grocery Council’s Packaging Stewardship Forum. The Packaging Stewardship Forum of the Australian Food and Grocery Council, works with partners across the nation to deliver industry recycling, litter reduction and education programs on behalf of its members, Australia’s major beverage companies and their packaging suppliers. The Forum’s highly successful Do the Right Thing anti-litter campaign is recognised by more than 80% of people. More than 400 towns and cities around Australia are now taking the Do the Right Thing message to their communities.